Nearby Theaters

In the late 60’s, this former Fox movie house became the Toho Theatre which ran films from Japan. (The Toho also opened a theater off Broadway in Times Square in the 60s.) The old marquee was taken off in the mid 80’s.

If you have the DVD for the film "How the West Was Won" in the short film about "HTWWW", you can see a shot of this old Fox theater.

During the summers of ‘70 and '71 (and maybe before, but not after I’m pretty sure) the Toho La Brea ran a several-week-long series they called the “Monster Film Festival,” consisting of a headliner feature and some revolving second features. In 1970 the main feature was “King Kong vs. Godzilla” and one of the seconds was “Matango.” (I remember calling the theatre and the nice woman referred to the film as “Matango, Fungus of Terror.” Little did I know, it was the actual title of “Attack of the Mushroom People,” parts of which I’d already seen on Channel 9!) I never got to the festival that year, much to my regret. In '71, tho, I begged and pleaded with the folks to take me because the festival’s main feature was none other than “Destroy All Monsters.” Quite upset at having missed “Destroy” during its initial AIP release in '69 (with “The Terrornauts”) and one of its reissues (with “The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant”!), to a monster-crazy pre-teen this engagement seemed like a gift from movie heaven. The second feature that day was “Dagora, the Space Monster,” another picture I’d caught parts of on Channel 9’s “Strange Tales.” I learned two things at that memorable double feature: 1.)that creature features played better when they weren’t dubbed, and 2.) you could never have too many of those Carnation ice cream sandwiches with the red and silver foil…

The Fox La Brea was closed for a while in the late 1950s before being renovated and reopened as the Art La Brea Theatre in 1960. I’m not sure how long it lasted under that name, as I remember it being called the Toho La Brea by 1963.

My girl friend (now wife) and I used to drive 60 miles to Los Angeles to see Kurosawa movies at the Toho La Brea. This would have been the mid-1960s. I especially remember “Yojimbo” and “High and Low,” both starring the great Toshiro Mifune.

An added date night benefit: the Cherry Blossom restaurant occupied the top floor of the theatre, so we could have a Japanese dinner before seeing the movie.

I think it was the Cherry Blossom that ran a small newspaper ad saying, “Sukiyaki,Tempura, served by girls in kimonos, and other delicious Japanese dishes.”